Keeping My Promise
by x Babycakes x
Summary: When Edward leaves Bella, she freezes, until her sun comes out to save her. When an unexpected guest drops in with bad news, Bella must make a choice between life or death. Will she have her happily ever after or will something always stop her?
1. Coping

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Series, it is owned by Stephanie Meyer. I do not own any of the characters. **

Bella POV

The morning sun was sharp as it flickered across my room. It was cold outside and I was warm in my bed. I didn't want to get up. Eventually, I got changed into a pair of old jeans, a fitted shirt and the new coat that Charlie had got me for my birthday. I had a quick breakfast of a piece of toast, and then headed off to school. The heating was still broken in my Chevy and so I had to make do with the layers I was wearing. I pulled up in my usual spot in the schools parking lot and got out of the truck. To my left I could see Mike, Jessica, Eric and Angela over by the schools entrance. To my right I could see the Cullens, and more importantly, Edward. He turned to face me the second I looked at him. His eyes were a satisfied gold so I could tell that he had recently fed. I could see that over the last three days, he had cleaned himself up again, if only I could say the same for myself. I didn't want to speak to him, I didn't want to see him, I just wanted to go home and snuggle up in bed. Of course I knew that I couldn't do that, I had to talk to him at least, I owed him that much.

~~ 3 days earlier ~~

When Edward left me, I felt lonely. I was miserable, confused and in the dark by myself. Then along came my sun, Jacob Black. He had begun to fix the whole that Edward had left in my heart. One day I had foolishly gone cliff diving alone. Jacob had saved me, to my sheer delight, just to be followed by the news of Harry Clearwater's death. Soon after, he offered to drive me home. We set off in my Chevy and were greeted at my home by an unlikely surprise. Alice was there. I begged her to stay – I was so relieved to see her. Jacob, however, had refused to stay and left immediately. Later on, she had smelt Jacob and decided that it would be best if she left the room to allow me to talk to him. In the kitchen we held an uncomfortable conversation, it wasn't the Jake I knew, it was the werewolf Jake, the one only bothered for the safety of the residents of La Push. Slowly, he had begun to become _my _Jake again, and we were just about to kiss.

**(From here on is a section from the book)** The shrill ring of the phone made us both jump, but it did not break his focus. He took his hand away from under my chin and reached over me to grab the receiver, but still held my face securely with the hand against my cheek. His dark eyes did not free mine. I was too muddled to react, even to take advantage of the distraction.

"Swan residence," Jacob said, his husky voice low and intense.

Someone answered, and Jacob altered in an instant. He straightened up, and his hand dropped from my face. His eyes went flat, his face blank, and I would have bet the measly remainder of my college fund that it was Alice.

I recovered myself and held out my hand for the phone. Jacob ignored me.

"He's not here," Jacob said, and the words were menacing.

There was some very short reply, a request for more information it seemed, because he added unwillingly, "He's at the funeral."

Then Jacob hung up the phone. "Filthy bloodsucker." He muttered under his breath. The face he turned back to me was the bitter mask again.

"Who did you just hang up on?" I gasped, infuriated. "In _my _house, and on _my_ phone?"

"Easy! He hung up on me!"

"He? Who was it?!"

He sneered the title. "Dr. Carlisle Cullen."

"Why didn't you let me talk to him?!"

"He didn't ask for you," Jacob said coldly. His face was smooth, expressionless, but his hands shook. "He asked where Charlie was and I told him. I don't think I broke any rules of etiquette."

"You listen to me, Jacob Black---"

But he obviously wasn't listening. He looked quickly over his shoulder, as it someone had called his name from the other room. His eyes went wide and his body stiff, then he started trembling. I listened too, automatically, but heard nothing.

"Bye, Bells," he spit out, and wheeled toward the front door.

I ran after him. "What is it?"

And then I ran into him, as he rocked back on his heels, cussing under his breath. He spun around again, knocking me sideways. I bobbled and fell to the floor, my legs tangled with his.

"Shoot, ow!" I protested as he hurriedly jerked his legs free one at a time.

I struggled to pull myself up s he darted for the back door; he suddenly froze again.

Alice stood motionless at the foot of the stairs.

"Bella," she choked.

I scrambled to my feet and lurched to her side. Her eyes were dazed and far away, her face drawn and whiter than bone. Her slim body trembled to an inner turmoil.

"Alice, what's wrong?" I cried. I put my hands o her face, trying to calm her.

Her eyes focused on mine abruptly, wide with pain.

"Edward," was all she whispered.

My body reacted faster than my mind was able to catch up with the implications of her reply. I didn't at first understand why the room was spinning or where the hollow roar in my ears was coming from. My mind laboured, unable to make sense of Alice's bleak face ad how it could possibly relate to Edward, while my body was already swaying, seeking the relief of unconsciousness before the reality could hit me.

The stairway tilted at the oddest angle.

Jacob's furious voice was suddenly in my ear, hissing out a stream of profanities. I felt a vague disapproval. His new friends were clearly a bad influence.

I was on the couch without understanding how I got there, and Jacob was still swearing. It felt like there was an earthquake – the couch was shaking under me.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded.

Alice ignored him. "Bella? Bella, snap out of it. We have to hurry."

"Stay back," Jacob warned.

"Calm down, Jacob Black," Alice ordered. "You don't want to do that so close to her."

"I don't think I'll have any problem keeping my focus," he retorted, but his voice sounded a little cooler.

"Alice?" My voice was weak. "What happened?" I asked, even though I didn't want to hear.

"I don't know," she suddenly wailed. "What is he thinking?!"

I laboured to pull myself up despite the dizziness. I realized it was Jacob's arm I was gripping for balance. He was the one shaking, not the couch.

Alice was pulling a small silver phone from her bag when my eyes relocated her. Her fingers dialled the numbers so fast they were a blur.

"Rose, I need to talk to Carlisle _now_." Her voice whipped through the words. "Fine, as soon as he's back. No, I'll be on a plane. Look, have you heard anything from Edward?"

Alice paused now, listening with an expression that grew more appalled every second. Her mouth opened into a little O of horror, and the phone shook in her hand.

"Why?" she gasped. "_Why_ would you do that, Rosalie?"

Whatever the answer was, it made her jaw tighten in anger. Her eyes flashed and narrowed.

"Well, you're wrong on both counts, though, Rosalie, so that would be a problem, don't you think?" she asked acidly. "Yes, that's right. She's absolutely fine – I was wrong . . . It's a long story . . . But you're wrong about that part too, that's why I'm calling . . . Yes, that's exactly what I saw."

Alice's voice was very hard and her lips were pulled back from her teeth. "It's a bit late for that, Rose. Save your remorse for someone who believes it." Alice snapped the phone shut with a sharp twist of her fingers.

Her eyes were tortures as she turned to face me

"Alice," I blurted out quickly. I couldn't let her speak yet. I needed a few more seconds before she spoke and her words destroyed what was left of my life. "Alice, Carlisle is back, though. He called just before . . ."

She stared at me blackly. "How long ago?" she asked in a hollow voice.

"Half a minute before you showed up."

"What did he say?" She really focused now, waiting for my answer.

"I didn't talk to him." My eyes flickered to Jacob.

Alice turned her penetrating gaze on him. He flinched, but held his place next to me. He sat awkwardly, almost as if he were trying to shield me with his boy.

"He asked for Charlie, and I told him Charlie wasn't here," Jacob muttered resentfully.

"Is that everything?" Alice demanded, her voice like ice.

"Then he hung up on me," Jacob spit back. A tremor rolled down his spine, shaking me with it.

"You told him Charlie was at the funeral," I reminded him.

Alice jerked her head back toward me. "What were his exact words?"

"He said, 'He's not here,' and when Carlisle asked where Charlie was, Jacob said 'At the funeral.'"

Alice moaned and sank to her knees.

"Tell me Alice," I whispered.

"That wasn't Carlisle on the phone," she said hopelessly.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Jacob snarled from beside me.

Alice ignored him, focusing on my bewildered face.

"It was Edward." The words were just a choked whisper. "He thinks you're dead."

My mind started to work again. These words weren't the ones I'd been afraid of, and the relief cleared my head.

"Rosalie told him I killed myself, didn't she?" I said, sighing as I relaxed.

"Yes," Alice admitted, her eyes flashing hard again.

"In her defence, she did believe it. They rely on my sight far too much for something that works so imperfectly. But for her to track him down to tell him this! Didn't she realize . . . or care . . .?" Her voice faded away in horror.

"And when Edward called here, he thought Jacob meant _my_ funeral," I realized. It stung to know how close I'd been, just inches away from his voice. My nails dug into Jacob's arm, but he didn't flinch.

Alice looked at me strangely. "You're not upset," she whispered.

"Well, it's really rotten timing, but it will all get straightened out. The next time he calls, someone will tell him . . . what . . . really . . ." I trailed off. Her gaze strangled the words in my throat.

Why was she so panicked? Why was her face twisting now with pity and horror? What was it she had said to Rosalie on the phone just now? Something about what she'd seen . . . and Rosalie's remorse; Rosalie would never feel remorse for anything that happened to me. But if she'd hurt her family, hurt her brother . . .

"Bella," Alice whispered. "Edward won't call again. He believed her."

"I. Don't. Understand."

My mouth framed each word in silence. I couldn't push the air out to actually say the words that would make her explain what that meant.

"He's going to Italy."

It took the length of one heartbeat for me to comprehend.

When Edward's voice came back to me now, it was not the perfect imitation of my delusions. It was just the weak, flat tone of my memories. But the words alone were enough to shred through my hest and leave it gaping open. Words from a time when I would have bet anything that I owned or could borrow on that fact that he loved me.

_Well, I wasn't going to live without you, _he'd said as we watched Romeo and Juliet die, here in this very room. _But I wasn't sure how to do it . . . I know Emmett and Jasper would never help . . . so I was thinking I would go to Italy and do something to provoke the Volturi . . . You don't irritate them. Not unless you want to die. _

_Not unless you want to die._

"NO!" The half-shrieked denial was so loud after the whispered words, it made us all jump. I felt the blood rushing to my face as I realized what she'd seen. "No! No, no, no! He can't He can't do that!"  
"He made up his mind as soon as your friends confirmed that it was too late to save you."

"But he . . . he _left_! He didn't want me anymore! What difference does it make now? He knew I would die sometime!

"I don't think he ever planned to outlive you by long," Alice said quietly.

"How _dare _he!" I screamed. I was on my feet now, and Jacob rose uncertainly to put himself between Alice and me again.

"Oh, get out of the way, Jacob!" I elbowed my way around his trembling body with desperate impatience.

"What do we do?" I begged Alice. There had to be something. "Can't we call him? Can Carlisle?"

She was shaking her head. "That was the first thing I tried. He left his phone in a trash can in Rio – someone answered it . . . ," she whispered.

"You said before we had to hurry. Hurry how? Let's do it, whatever it is!"

"Bella, I-I don't think I can ask you to . . ." She trailed off in indecision.

"Ask me!" I commanded.

She put her hands on my shoulders, holding me in place, her fingers flexing sporadically to emphasize her words. "We may already be too late. I saw him going o the Volturi . . . and asking to die." We both cringed, and my eyes were suddenly blind. I blinked feverishly at the tears. "It all depends on what they choose. I can't see that till they make a decision.

"But if they say no, and they might – Aro is fond of Carlisle, and wouldn't want to offend him – Edward has a backup plan. They're very protective of their city. If Edward does something to upset the peace, eh thinks they'll act to stop him. And he's right. They will."

I stared at her with my jaw clenched in frustration. I'd heard nothing yet and that would explain why we were still standing here.

"So if they agree to grant his favour, we're too late. If they say no, and he comes up with a plan to offend them quickly enough, we're too late. If he gives into his more theatrical tendencies . . . we might have time"

"Let's go!"

"Listen, Bella! Whether we are in time or not, we will be in the heart of the Volturi city. I will be considered his accomplice if he is successful. You will be a human who not only knows too much, but also smells too good. There's a very good chance that they will eliminate us all – though in your case it won't be punishment so much as dinnertime."

"This is what's keeping us here?" I asked in disbelief.

"I'll go alone if you're afraid." I mentally tabulated what money was left in my account, and wondered if Alice would lend me the rest.

"I'm only afraid of getting you killed."

I snorted in disgust. "I almost get myself killed on a daily basis! Tell me what I need to do!"

"You write a note to Charlie. I'll call the airlines."

"Charlie," I gasped.

Not that my presence was protecting him, but could I leave him here alone to face . . .

"I'm not going to let anything happen to Charlie," Jacob's low voice was gruff and angry. "Screw the treaty."

I glanced up at him, and he scowled at my panicked expression.

"Hurry, Bella," Alice interrupted urgently.

I ran to the kitchen, yanking the drawers open and throwing the contents all over the floor as I searched for a pen. A smooth, brown hand held one out to me.

"Thanks," I mumbled, pulling the cap off with my teeth. He silently handed me the pad of paper we wrote phone messages on. I tore off the top sheet and threw it over my shoulder.

_Dad, _I wrote. _I'm with Alice. Edward's in trouble. You can ground me when I get back. I know it's a bad time. So sorry. Love you so much. Bella. _

"Don't go," Jacob whispered. The anger was all gone now that Alice was out of sight.

I wasn't about to waste time arguing with him. "Please, please, _please_ take care of Charlie," I said as I dashed back out to the front room. Alice was waiting in the doorway with a bag over her shoulder.

"Get your wallet – you'll need ID. _Please _tell me you have a passport. I don't have time to forge one."

I nodded and then raced up the stairs, my knees weak with gratitude that my mother had wanted to marry Phil on a beach in Mexico. Of course, like all her plans, it had fallen through. But not before I'd made the practical arrangements I could for her.

I tore through my room. I stuffed my old wallet, a clean T-shirt, and sweatpants into my backpack, and then threw my toothbrush on top. I hurled myself back down the stairs. The sense of déjà vu was nearly stifling by this point. At least, unlike the last time – when I'd run away from Forks to _escape_ thirsty vampires rather than to _find_ them – I wouldn't have to say goodbye to Charlie in person.

Jacob and Alice were locked in some kind of confrontation in front of the open door, standing so far apart you wouldn't assume at first that they were having a conversation. Neither one seemed to notice my noisy reappearance.

"You might control yourself on occasion, but those leeches you're taking her to---"Jacob was furiously accusing her.

"Yes. You're right, dog." Alice was snarling, too. "The Volturi are the very essence of our kind – they're the reason your hair stands on end when you smell me. They are the substance of you nightmares, the dread behind your instincts. I'm not unaware of that".

"And you take her to them like a bottle of wine for a party!" he shouted.

"You think she'd be better off if I left her here alone, with Victoria stalking her?"

"We can handle the redhead."

"Then why is she still hunting?"

Jacob growled. And a shudder rippled through his torso.

"Stop that!" I shouted at them both, wild with impatience. "Argue when we get back, let's go!"

Alice turned for the car, disappearing in her haste. I hurried after her, pausing automatically to turn and lock the door.

Jacob caught my arm with a shivering had. "Please, Bella. I'm begging."

His dark eyes were glistening with tears. A lump filled my throat.

"Jake, I _have _to---"

"You don't, though. You really don't. You could stay here with me. You could stay alive. For Charlie. For me."

The engine of Carlisle's Mercedes purred; the rhythm of the thrumming spiked when Alice revved it impatiently.

I shook my head, tears splattering from my eyes with the sharp motion. I pulled my arm free, and he didn't fight me.

"Don't die, Bella," he choked out. "Don't go. Don't."

What if I never saw him again?

**(The section from the book ends)**

Then it clicked. It was as if a part of me suddenly burst into flame and disappeared, the part that told me to go to Edward. I suddenly didn't feel that I should. Besides, he was the one that left me. Instead, I wanted to climb out of the car and run into Jacobs willing arms. I told myself to ignore it, that I was feeling sorry for him.

"Come on, Bella. We have to hurry." Alice was growing more and more impatient.

Jacob was still there staring at me. He looked like he was about to burst into tears.

Finally, I fought temptation and climbed into the Mercedes.


	2. My Sun

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters – they all belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

We'd only been driving for about 20 minutes and it was nearly 7pm. The thought of Jacob alone on my drive was still upsetting me. Should I have stayed? I knew that I had made my decision between Jacob and Edward; life and death. But shouldn't that have made me feel good? I looked up from my quivering hands and saw a sign reading 'You are now leaving Forks'.

Suddenly I reached over and spun the wheel towards the side of the small, deserted road. The look on Alice's face was indescribable. I must have caught her, and myself, by surprise, something which very rarely happened.

I had no idea why I had just done that. It was like something had been controlling my hands. I quickly pulled my arms back to my lap and looked down.

"What the hell, Bella?!" she exclaimed.

I kept looking down. I couldn't look at her. I had no idea what I had just done, how was I meant to describe that to her?

The engine roared as she put it into drive and continued on our route.

About a minute later, I did it again, although this time I practically turned the car around.

My whole body was thrown forward, pushing my head against the windscreen. I couldn't feel anything, which surprised me. I looked up into Alice's furious eyes.

"We don't have time to mess around, Bella! We have a plane to catch. If you're not going to take this seriously then I advise you get out of the car now!" I think that both of us knew that what she was saying wasn't true. She knew that without me, Edward wouldn't listen. But somehow, I listened to what she said and slowly reached my hand down to my side to unbuckle my seatbelt.

The look in her eyes went from pure anger to complete disbelief.

"No, Bella. I didn't mean it, really! Please stay!"

I looked at her, the desperation in her face. But I continued to unbuckle myself and climb out of the car. Finally I turned around to talk to her, but she beat me to it.

"What are you going to do, go crawling back to that _dog_?!" She really was angry now.

"We have to save Edward, Bella! Remember, that's what we're supposed to be doing!" She shouted.

"Well, maybe I don't want to!" I yelled back. She looked horrified.

"So are you saying that you would really choose the mutt over your true love, my brother?" By this point, she had stepped out of the car and was standing in front of me.

"That's just it though! He's your brother Alice! Sorry to admit it but I don't think he's my true love. Besides he left me, Alice! He broke my heart!"

Alice looked at me in shock. "You really think that?"

I looked at her and nodded, only slightly.

"Bella! He only left because he wanted you to have a shot at real life! He never wanted to leave you; he only did it for your own good."

A couple of weeks ago, that would have made me so happy. Edward still loved me? But now I didn't feel the same way. I didn't feel as though I couldn't live without him. I didn't feel drawn towards him. Instead, I felt drawn towards Forks, and more specifically, La Push. I needed my sun.

"I can't do this Alice; I can't do this to Jacob!"

"Forget about him, Bella. He's only doing it to make Edward jealous, you know that!"

Now I was beginning to get angry.

"Stop saying that! I'm not going with you Alice!"

She stumbled back a few steps and gave me one of the worst looks I had ever received. It almost frightened me.

Then, all of a sudden, she climbed back into the car and roared the engine really loudly. The car sprung back into life and hurried off into the distance, away from me.

A single tear rolled down my cheek.

I turned around and began walking slowly back towards Forks. After about a minute, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. When I picked it up, I recognised the number immediately.

"Hello?"

"Bella?! Are you okay?" I smiled. Hearing Jacobs comforting voice made me happy.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Bella, where are you?" He asked caringly.

"Umm about two minutes past the sign leaving Forks. Do you think that you could come and collect me, Alice kind of left me."

"Sure, Bells. I'll be there in 10."


	3. Lunch

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters – they all belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

I felt warm leaning against him. He kept humming to me, telling me to rest. The volume on the radio was turned down really low; I could only just hear it.

"Hey Bells . . . ?"

I opened my eyes slowly.

"Yeah"

"I'm sorry for breaking my promise. It'll never happen again"

A smile crept onto my face. This felt right. I squeezed his arm tightly, showing him that I was listening, but I felt so tired that I drifted off moments later. I could have sworn that I heard him murmur something else, but I couldn't hear it and fell asleep before I could ask.

The next morning I woke up fully dressed in my bed. The curtains were closed but there was a tiny gap in the end, letting in a tiny beam of light. I lay in my bed, remembering that it was Saturday. After a few moments, I heard my phone go off on my bedside table. I rolled over to pick it up and read the text I had been sent.

_Hey Bells, just wandering if u r free l8r on. A couple of the guys and I are going over to Emily's for lunch and wanna no if u'd come along. Txt bac – Jake x_

I checked the time; it was nearly 11am. I sat up and went into the bathroom to clean up. When I got back to my room I texted Jake back.

_Hey. Sounds gd. Can you pick me up in about half an hour? See you then. Bella x_

I lay on my bed and smiled. Finally, a normal relationship. Well, I don't know if you could call it normal seeing as I'm now with a werewolf.

I flicked through my wardrobe, looking for something to wear but I couldn't find anything. I looked over and over again trying to find something. It was early summer so it was quite warm outside. I was just about to give up looking for something special to wear when I found a bag at the back of my wardrobe. There was a note attached.

_Bella,_

_I know that you don't like wearing these sorts of things but I'm sure that eventually you'll find a use for it. You can't wear jeans forever._

_Love Alice x_

The happy expression I was wearing faded as quickly as it had arrived. I wondered when she had put it there.

I had no choice, either I wore the same, jeans and t-shirt, as usual or I tried whatever Alice had given me. I opened the bag and pulled out a white and blue sundress. It didn't look too bad, considering that Alice could have provided a lot worse, so I went back to the bathroom to try it on. It fit perfectly, and Alice had given me some nice flats with it so I decided to go with those.

When I went downstairs, I was met with two surprised faces. First, Charlie was sat on the sofa looking shocked "Wow Bella, you look nice".

"Thanks dad."

And the second face was Jacob's. Wow, had I really taken half an hour to change? He looked at me and smiled.

"You look lovely, Bells"

"You don't think it's a bit too dressed up? I didn't really have anything else."

"It's perfect." I blushed.

I looked at Charlie. "We'll be back later, dad"

"Okay, have fun kids." Whenever I left the house with Jake, Charlie always looked happy. I could easily tell that he preferred Jake to Edward.

We walked over to the door and I reached out to grab the handle. To my surprise, a warm hand replaced the expected touch of the cold handle. Again, I blushed. Jake took my hand in his and then opened the door with his other hand.

We walked, hand in hand, to his car. I climbed in the front seat and sat there, waiting for him to do the same. I was then surprised when he went back up to my front door and began chatting to Charlie. As I began to open the door to ask what was happening, he turned back and climbed in.

I didn't say anything, but I could see him smiling next to me.

The car went really quiet.

"So, you and the bloodsucker are still going your separate ways then?"

"I guess you could put it that way." There was a pause. "How did you know to call me after Alice had gone?"

"Umm" He looked down for a second. "Lucky guess?"

Not wanting to go into a deep conversation about this, I just let it go.

"So, is there any special reason Emily is making lunch?"

"She makes it for us every day. I just thought that with you free, you could join us."

"And everyone's comfortable with that?"

"Err . . . sure, sure."

I looked up at him to see if I could read his expression, but he was just looking forward.

After about ten minutes, we arrived at Emily's house on the reservation. Before I could open the door, Jake had climbed out, run around the car and opened it for me.

"Thanks" I said awkwardly.

Just as we reached the door, Emily opened it.

"Hey, Jake . . ." She looked across, slightly surprised to see me.

" . . . And Bella, nice to see you again."

"Hey, nice to see you too."

We walked inside and sat at the table. There was a white table cloth spread out across the table, with plates and cutlery alongside each other. Next to that was a huge basket of bread. I mean huge.

"How many people are coming?" I whispered to Jake.

"Just the usual; me, Sam, Embry, Quil, Jared and Paul."

"How much do you eat" I asked in shock.

He chuckled out loud, making Emily turn to look at us. "Oh, I think you'll soon see that we have quite big appetites."

"Hey, Bella. Could you give me a hand with the salad?" Emily asked.

"Yeah sure." I got up and walked across the room to the kitchen. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just put those ingredients into the bowl and mix them." I did as told.

I helped Emily to prepare the food and we spent some girl time together. The last time I did that was with Alice. By the time the rest of the boys had arrived, the food was ready. Jake and Sam were in the living room watching a game. Emily called them in and we went to sit down.

I pulled my seat out and was quite surprised when Jacob came up behind me and lifted me up into a tight bear hug, just as the boys walked in.

"Oh, so are you guys going public now then?" I heard a deep voice call from across the room. I looked across into the eyes of four really tall boys. They were each wearing a pair of three quarter length shorts and t shirts. They were very intimidating.

"Shut up Quil" Jake called amusingly.

"What is he talking about?" I muttered quietly to Jake, hoping that only he would hear. I guessed wrong.

"You and Jake have been together for a while now, since those filthy bloodsuckers left. Well, that's what Jake has been telling us." He turned to Jake and winked.

"So let's eat." I was pretty relieved when someone ended that awkward conversation.

The food didn't last long. As Jake promised, the boys had big appetites. After lunch, we sat around for a bit, the boys all joking in the living room and me and Emily talking. Soon enough, Jake walked in saying that it was time we left.

We said our goodbyes and went out to the car. Once again, he grabbed hold of my hand as we did so.

Once in the car, I waited for him to sit down and confronted him about the thing that had been bothering me all afternoon.

"Jake, what was Quil saying about us 'going public'?"

"Oh, he was just kidding."

"Well, are we?" I said awkwardly. I was looking down by this point.

"Umm . . . well I guess we could be . . . that is if you wanted to" he looked up at me hopefully.

I thought about this situation in my head. It was what I had been thinking about in the car with Alice, it wouldn't be right to ignore my opportunity.

"Yeah, I guess" He smiled.

Throughout our conversation, he had been driving back to my house. When we got back, he walked me to the door and looked deep into my eyes. I began to feel uncomfortable having him stare at me for so long. Then he did what I least expected him to do; he left. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and went back to his car. I went inside feeling a bit confused.

Jacob's POV

I turned away from her driveway, thinking about what Sam had said to me earlier about imprinting. A couple of weeks ago, he had imprinted on Emily. The same with Jared and Kim. Besides, I heard that imprinting was rare; it wasn't supposed to be happening to everyone – but me. He was telling me how I had to be careful. He said that if I wasn't imprinting on Bella, she wasn't the right one.

I knew that I wanted to be with Bella, I had since she had arrived in Forks. That bloodsucker had got in the way, but he left her and now it's my chance. Knowing my luck, if I didn't try, I would lose my chance soon. I just had to take it slow, because if she is the one, I'm not going to lose her.


	4. A Nice Surprise

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters – they all belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

Day 2 – Bella's POV

I woke up on a Sunday morning to find Charlie and Jacob downstairs. I wanted to get dressed before seeing them but I was too hungry so I walked downstairs as quietly as I could, trying not to disturb them. I managed to look through the cupboards, grab a cereal bar and turn back towards the stairs before being attacked by yet another surprise bear hug. I was beginning to get used to these hugs and I was beginning to enjoy them more. Jake managed to twist our fingers together without even releasing me from the hug. He tilted his head down towards my face and gave me a sweet kiss on the nose. He then released me from the hug and dragged me across the room to behind where Charlie was sitting. It had just become clear to me that Charlie hadn't even noticed I was awake yet.

"Morning, Charlie"

"Oh, hey Bells. You're up!"

I walked back over to the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee.

"That's a keen observation you made there" I said sarcastically.

He smiled amusingly. "So do you two have anything planned for today?"

I looked over to Jake, waiting for him to answer the question.

"Actually, yes Charlie. I was wandering if Bella could spend another day on the res with us. We had a great time yesterday and the guys enjoyed her food."

I looked over to Charlie and smiled. He returned the gesture and then returned to face Jacob. "Just take care of her" he said protectively.

Jake gave a sharp nod in Charlie's direction, then lifted me up and carried me upstairs. I heard the volume go up so I guessed that Charlie was once again distracted. Once we were upstairs, Jake sat me on my bed and pressed his lips against mine. The kiss was soft and sweet, yet I could still feel the love and compassion within it. He pulled his head back and put a pile of clothes into my arms.

"I'll be outside."

"Have you got the rabbit with you today?" I asked. He looked up at me and grinned his toothy grin.

"Nope. I wouldn't wear a dress today, we're running" You could feel the excitement radiating off of him. I knew that he loved me seeing him in his wolf form.

"By the way, you looked lovely yesterday" He kissed my cheek and then turned and jumped out of my window. I heard the faint _thud _as he hit the ground.

I looked down into the pile of clothes he had handed me, in which there was a pair of shorts and a tank top. The thought of Jake choosing these for me made me smile. I went into the bathroom to change and then grabbed my phone and purse and went outside.

I looked out across the garden, looking for either a boy or a wolf, I wasn't sure which. I didn't see either of these; I saw a dusty figure walking out of the woods. I looked around again to see if Jake was around; but there was no sign of him anywhere. I looked across the garden again, to the approaching shape. I could just see that it was about my height, and a she; _she_ was my height. I then looked down at me feet and saw a torn piece of fabric. I leant down to pick it up. Was it a piece of Jake's clothing?

I then heard a voice above me. I was surprised to see that the figure had moved so quickly, and was horrified to see the all too familiar fiery locks hanging down by my shoulders.

"Victoria . . ." I whispered.

"Hey, Bella. All alone now, I see?" she asked teasingly.

My face tensed and I took in a deep breath, unsure if I would actually be able to breathe out again.

The memory of seeing Laurent in the meadow was flowing back to me, the first time I saw Jake as a wolf. The conversation I had with him was also coming back to me.

_I actually came here as a favour to her . . . She wanted to save that part for herself . . .You're very lucky I was the one to find you . . . No one will find your body – you'll simply go missing . . ._

The voice I could hear in my head returned. _Threaten her_

"He's here"

"Don't play games, Bella. We both know that you are helpless here. Your precious family of vampires have left you." She said hauntingly.

"Jacob" I murmured.

"Oh yes, your little dog is he not? They're distracted, away from here too. Nobody can help you."

I kept looking at the floor, praying that Jake would appear to save me – but nothing happened.

"So here's the plan. You and your little group of friends have killed Laurent, and . . ." she faltered "James, and now it's my turn to get revenge. So I'm going to take you to a place where nobody will find us, and I am going to get my revenge."

Suddenly, her head snapped upright, as if she had heard something. Everything was silent. Then I heard it too, the faint rustle of leaves and twigs snapping. Then the face of a reddish brown wolf, _my _reddish brown wolf jumped through the trees. I heard her grumble "Not again . . ." before she jumped into action.

I suddenly felt something tug on my arm and before I knew it I was flying across the garden. I hit the ground and felt an excruciatingly pain shoot up my arm. When I looked up, Victoria and Jake were battling silently. Slowly, I tried to push myself up to my feet, but my arm objected and pulled my back down again. I let out a quick gasp of pain and looked up to make sure that Victoria hadn't turned back on me. She was still silently dancing with Jake.

I looked at my arm. There was a trail of blood dripping onto the ground. I tried to stop it by pushing my arm but nothing helped. I then looked up into the eyes of an unfamiliar vampire. It was a boy with blond hair. His crimson red eyes were glaring at my arm, suddenly making my feel extremely vulnerable. In the space of a second, another wolf jumped out in front of me. This one was a chocolate brown rather than Jakes russet brown. The vampire dragged its eyes from my bleeding wound to the monster standing in front of me. The wolf jumped forward, and grabbed onto its leg, dragging it into the woods. I didn't hear another sound from those two. Jake and Victoria looked as though they had barely fought at all, when in fact they had been all this time.

When the faces of the other wolves appeared, she made a run for it and shot back into the woods. All of the wolves followed. About a minute later, the chocolate brown wolf returned. He looked at me and then ran around the house, I supposed to phase. I was wandering where Jake was. Another minute later, Quil approached me.

"Bella! Oh my god are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Quil, what happened?"

"Jared and I were running patrol when we caught the scent of some new bloodsuckers. We were gonna just deal with it ourselves but another ten leeches came through and we had to call for help. That's why Jake left without telling you – Alpha's order" he said with a hint of amusement.

"But what did Victoria have to do with it?"

"We think that she created some sort of army – to distract us so she could get to you."

I frowned. I should have known that she would come for me soon.

"What about Jake? And the others? Are they okay?"

"Sometimes you underestimate us Bella, they'll be fine."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now, if I don't get you sorted, Jake will have my arm – literally"

He helped me up and then took me up to the front door.

I then had to face one of the hardest things I had ever done.

I looked up to open the door and Charlie was stood there, mouth open wide. He had watched the whole thing.

"Oh no, this isn't good" Quil muttered under his breath.


	5. Dream

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters – they all belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**By the way please can people review with any ideas you have. The more reviews I get, the more chapters I'll update. Reviews make me think that people are actually reading. **

Jacob's POV

I would have chased the red-headed leach as far as my legs would take me. I had followed her to Canada, but lost her scent. Even as a wolf, my body trembled with rage. She escaped again!

I had to admit though, for every thought I spent of her, I spent a thousand on Bella. I couldn't bare the thought of her being alone and in pain. Especially without me by her side to comfort her. I was desperate to return, but Sam gave me and Embry strict orders to remain in this region until given permission to return. However much I begged to return to my true love, he refused as technically, I hadn't imprinted on her . . . yet. I tried playing the 'I'm second in command' card, but he just responded my saying that he was the Alpha – no exceptions.

We were working in three hour shifts. Embry was resting now, whilst I continued to hunt Victoria. Whenever I thought about her, my body stretched out further, eager to run faster. I could feel the dirt under my feet. It was relaxing when I could focus my thoughts in time with my footsteps.

I was running at a five mile radius from Embry. I only had about twenty minutes until it was the end of my shift, so I decided to push the circuit out. About ten minutes later, it went dark. I was beginning to hear the scurrying of the late woodland creatures. I could also hear, right in the distance, the sound of humans packing up for the night.

_Hey. I'm up and ready to run my shift. Give me five minutes and I'll meet you where you are._

So Embry was up and phased, huh?

I looked around and found a comfy looking pile of leaves. I sat down in them and closed my eyes. An image of Bella, happy in her home, appeared in my mind and subconsciously I smiled. Then I decided to open my mind and see if any of the other wolves were out.

_Hey guys it's me, are any of you out?_

I waited a couple of seconds for a reply.

_Jake? Hey how's it going?_

_Quil? You're in wolf form? I thought that you were taking care of Bella!_

_Chill dude. She's inside sleeping and I needed a little fresh air, I'm only outside. I don't know how you cope with her. I mean she's cool to hang around with, but when she gets tired she can be a piece of work. Especially when you insist that I watch her sleeping. I mean, seriously, are you that bad?_

_Quil, think about it. That red-headed leech got to her. She nearly killed her! _My thoughts were becoming rather vicious.

_Okay I'm sorry Jake. _

I cooled down.

_It's alright, Quil. I just really need to see her to know that she's safe. _

Quil flashed an image of her sleeping into his mind.

_You know I didn't mean like that. But thanks. I miss seeing her. _

_It's alright, Jake. I know what you mean. _

_So, has anything interesting happened on the res?_

_Umm . . . nope not really. We cleared out the rest of the newborn vamps and now it's as if they were never here. _

I saw something else flicker through his mind, although Quil was trying to hide it.

_Oh my god, no! How did he find out?_

Quil replayed the moment in his head. My mouth was open so wide that my jaw hit the floor.

_Is he alright? How's he coping with it?_

_He's managing. He's spent all of the time since discussing it with Billy. They're even closer than before. _

So now Charlie knew about wolves and vamps?

_What about Bella? How's she handling it?_

_She's fine. She actually seems pretty happy not having to hide such a huge part of her life from him anymore. _

I breathed a sigh of relief and said goodnight, I was pretty tired.

I ignored the voices of the other wolves talking to one another and tried to sleep. As I rested my head on the ground, I could hear the soft thuds of Embry's feet slamming against the ground. He wasn't far away yet.

When I fell asleep, I dreamt about Bella.

Dream

I had just returned from slaying the newborn vamps. I felt awful about leaving Bella without any notice – but I had to, Alpha's order. I slipped past the familiar rock, only five minutes away from Bella's. I passed another familiar checkpoint, the trees that are positioned in a triangle. Then I came across a familiar, but unwelcomed scent. It was a vampire.

Oh My God.

I ran faster and faster until I reached the clearing at Bella's house. I looked across the garden and saw nothing. I ran behind the house and phased.

Once I had pulled on a pair of trousers, I climbed up the side of the house and jumped into Bella's window. The scent was particularly strong here.

I looked across to Bella's bed and saw her lifeless body draped in an unnatural position.

I nearly screamed, but then saw Victoria sitting on Bella's computer chair. She seemed so calm. I was furious.

Without thinking, I lunged forward, immediately phasing, and tried to rip her apart. How had she gotten here?!

Just as I approached her, she sprung towards the window and jumped out. I followed closely behind, only a second away. All I needed was for her to trip or stumble just a little, and then I could reach her. I stretched out and grabbed the back f her jacket, my claws ripping it in a neat line. She shrieked and ran faster. I saw what looked like the fur of a dead animal. I was so used to seeing these things that it shouldn't have surprised me, but it was huge, and this caught my attention. I heard her laugh. She seemed happy about something.

I slowed down letting her get away, and turned around to examine the corpse. I used my paw to roll it over. I jumped, it was Sam.

I gasped and sat up suddenly. I looked around me to find that it had just been a dream, Bella was fine and Sam certainly was. I was just a dream. It was just a dream. I kept saying this to myself, hoping to convince myself. It was ridiculous, but I decided that I had to see Bella to make sure that she was okay.

I couldn't disobey Sam, but my love for Bella was more important, and I had to see her. I stood up, and began running. I heard the voice of Embry shouting behind me.

_Jake, it's not your turn yet! You still have an hour!_

He must have noticed that I was heading back towards Forks because he followed me.


	6. Out In The Open

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters – they all belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**By the way please can people review with any ideas you have. The more reviews I get, the more chapters I'll update. Reviews make me think that people are actually reading. **

Bella's POV

So Charlie and I were sitting on the sofa, watching a game on the TV. It was fairly obvious that neither one of us was actually watching, we were both thinking about the impossible.

"So Jacob is a wolf?" He asked, suddenly breaking the silence.

"Yeah." I replied. I was sure that now that this secret was out in the open, I wanted them all to be. I had already seen how hard it was to keep secrets around Charlie.

"And who was the read headed girl?"

"Umm . . . Her name is Victoria." He looked at me suspiciously.

"And what was she doing with you and Jake?" he asked. "Bells please tell me the truth, I need to understand what is going on in my teenage daughters life."

I looked up at him and decided that he was ready. Now was the best time to tell him all that I knew about the other half of the world that we weren't supposed to know about.

"Okay dad, but you have to promise me two things." He nodded and looked directly at me.

"Firstly, you can never tell anybody about what I am about to tell you, or the wolf thing. If you need somebody to talk about it with, speak to Billy, he knows it all. Which leads me onto my second point, when you know what I'm about to tell you, you must try to spend as much time as possible in La Push. You'll be safest there."

"Okay Bells, but I don't understand why La Push is so important, if Jake is killing people, shouldn't we be staying away from him?"

I looked at him, a look of horror on my face. How did he think that Jake, my Jake, was a murderer? And then I remembered what I had thought when Jake first told me. He didn't, yet, know about the vampires, he still believed that it was the creatures from the woods that were killing innocent people.

"Dad, Jake isn't killing anybody. That's what Victoria is doing. See, here's the thing . . ." he looked eager to hear what I had to say. "Victoria is a vampire. She kills innocent people so that she can drink their blood." I told him.

The look on his face went from curiousness to pure horror.

"Dad? Are you okay?" he returned to normal, with just a small look of panic on his face.

"Yeah, I'm" he stuttered "Fine. But why would she come here?"

"You see dad, last year Edward killed her mate, James. Oh yeah, Edward is also a vampire." He looked shocked once again.

"I always knew that there was something strange about him. Oh Bells, I'm just so glad that your over him and that you never have to see that terrible monster again. But what about his family, are they safe?" He actually looked concerned for their safety. "As chief of police, I believe that everybody should be safe."

"They're vampires too."

"All of them?" he asked.

"All of them" I confirmed.

"But . . . Alice . . . she's such a sweet heart . . ." I stopped him.

"Yes dad, they're vampires but that doesn't mean that they are bad. You see, they survive on a different diet to ordinary vampires. Instead of drinking human blood, which technically makes them stronger, they settle for animal blood. They control themselves so that they can live as normal life as they possibly can. Unfortunately, being undead means that they never age and so they are constantly moving around so as not to raise suspicion." I looked at Charlie again. Wow, I had told him so much and there was still so much to tell.

"So . . . when you say that last year Edward killed . . . James, was that why you left without telling me and then were found with a broken leg and multiple wounds elsewhere?"

"Yeah, dad. Once James smelt my blood, he couldn't forget it and one of us would have to die before it ever ended. Fortunately, that was him but it left Victoria heartbroken and thirsty for revenge. She keeps on trying to return to forks so that she can cause Edward the same pain as he caused her, by taking away her mate. But I think that today, she found out that we weren't together anymore."

"Okay, I think I get that part, but why did he leave you? They haven't been here long enough to raise suspicion."

"Well, there are these people called the Volturi" the name sent shivers down my spine. "They are like the royalty of the vampire world. They live in Italy and they make the rules. Basically, their most simple rule is 'Keep the secret'. After my birthday last year, there was an accident. Nobody got hurt, but it was close. Edward decided that the world he lived in was too dangerous for me, so he left, with all the intentions of making my life better, hoping that I could live a normal life that didn't involve him. This didn't work at first, until I started hanging out with Jacob, and slowly he started to heal the hole that Edward had left in my heart. I fell in love with him. Then a couple of weeks ago, Alice turned up at our door whilst you were at work. She told me that Edward had gone to the Volturi to ask to die. Vampires are difficult to kill and if he wanted to die, he would have to provoke the Volturi."

"But why would he want to die?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, well he thought that I was dead because Alice saw me jumping off a cliff and not coming up."

"WHAT??!! You jumped off a cliff?? Why the hell would you do that, Bella? You could have killed yourself!"

"Calm down dad, it was only recreational, cliff diving. The kids in La Push do it all the time."

"Fine. But how did Alice know that you didn't come up?"

"Well, she can see these kind of visions. She can see when people make choices subconsciously, such as Edward choosing to go to the Volturi, and me choosing to jump off the cliff. But she didn't see me being pulled out of the water by Jake, because she can't see wolves. Oh yeah, and speaking of wolves, most of the Quileute boys are wolves too. That's why Jake became such great friends with Jared, Paul, Sam, Quil and Embry. They were helping him cope with becoming a wolf."

"Oh my god, Bella. You couldn't have told me this before?"

"I was trying to protect you, dad, which is why you have to spend as much time in La Push as you can, the wolves can protect you when you are in their territory."

"But why did they become wolves in the first place?"

"Because the vampires arrived. They are enemies, born to kill each other."

"Okay, Bella. I think I understand it now."  
"Great dad." I leant forward and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Suddenly, I heard a crash and out front door went down. Jake was standing on the other side of it.

"Jake?"

He ran over to me, picked me up and kissed me. This kiss was passionate and strong.

After what felt like forever, he put me down and I took a breath.

"Hello to you too, Jake" he smiled at me and winked.

"Hey, oh sorry to interrupt you guys. Do you want me to leave?" he asked innocently. Since when was Jake innocent?

"No, it's not a problem, Jake. Come sit down." Charlie told him.

Before Jake had even heard the full reply, he launched himself into the air and landed comfortably onto the sofa. There was the Jake that I knew. They both stared lifelessly at the screen. I had to break the silence.

"Do you two want something to eat? it's nearly dinner time."

No response.

"I could make lasagne"

Suddenly I heard two voices, arguing in volume. I walked back into the living room and shushed them.

"Lasagne it is then." I walked into the kitchen and turned on the oven. I then turned around to start making the lasagne. I could hear quiet voices in the living room and couldn't help but eavesdrop.

"So, you're a wolf?" Charlie announced.

"Umm . . . Yeah. I hope that you are still okay with me being with Bella, I really couldn't stand to lose her. Not now."

Dad shushed him and looked at him as if Jake was wearing a skirt. I couldn't help but smile.

"Of course you can. Look Jake, I don't care that you are a wolf, I care that you make Bella happy. Happier then she ever was with Edward. And I like the way she is around you. It's like you bring out with other side of her. You two were meant for each other."

Both Jacob and I smiled and then they both turned their heads in my direction. I quickly jumped out of view and continued with the cooking, hoping that they didn't see me. I didn't hear anyone standing so I presumed that I had missed the bullet.

After dinner, Jake and I went upstairs. I was pretending that I hadn't heard what he and dad had been talking about.

He placed his hands around my waist and pulled my up onto his lap. We sat there kissing for what felt like hours.

"So you heard what Charlie said, we're meant to be together." I blushed. I guess he had seen me. He smiled when he saw the colour rise in my cheeks and put me back down on the floor. He stood up and looked into my eyes.

He was distracted my the sudden howl of a wolf.

"Umm . . . it's Sam. He's probably pretty mad at me – I broke Alpha's orders."

"You did what??!! Can you even do that?"

"Of course we can, but it's not advisable."

"Why? Why did you do it then?" I asked him.

He sat down again and lifted me back into his lap. He looked deep in to my eyes and I did the same to him.

"We didn't stop the red headed leach. She's still loose. We couldn't catch her, she's fast!"

He must have seen the panic in my face because he suddenly hugged me and started reassuring me that they would catch her soon. I knew that now she must be angry, because another one of her friends had been killed. Who knows when she could return!

"Jake, Charlie! He's downstairs on his own."

"He's fine I'm sure, but maybe you two could come and stay on the res with us for a few days, maybe a week. Just so that we know that you are safe." I nodded.

He leant down and kissed me. It wasn't as desperate as the one he gave me earlier, but it was sweet and held so much power that I forgot about my previous worries.

When he stopped, we walked downstairs hand in hand to explain to Charlie that it would be safer if he and I stayed in La Push for a week or so, just temporary.

We got downstairs and the TV was on, but Charlie wasn't there. I checked through the house and still couldn't find him.

"Charlie?" I called, over and over again.

I walked towards the back door and saw Jake stopped dead in his tracks. He stopped so suddenly that I bumped into him.

"Jake? What's wrong?" I asked. His face was full of worry, and irritation.

"Jake?!"

"They took him."

My eyes went wide and I couldn't take a breath.

"Oh . . . my . . . God!" I coughed.

"How?" I begged.

"A new scent; must have been recently changed or I would have smelt it from upstairs. Damn! We have to hurry Bella, he's still alive. But I don't know how long they will keep him alive for."

"Them?"

"The new vampire is working for Victoria!"


	7. Out Of My Life

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters – they all belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**By the way please can people review with any ideas you have. The more reviews I get, the more chapters I'll update. Reviews make me think that people are actually reading.**

Bella's POV

So I was sat on the sofa watching the nine o'clock news as I had been at this time for the last four mornings. Jake and the pack had gone out, searching for Charlie. I was waiting for something, anything, to tell me that he was safe. Sure, his insignificant gestures were annoying at the best of times, but I missed them and would give anything to hear them again.

I must have been distracted, because I didn't notice the front door opening and somebody sliding through. Although in my defence, they were effectively silent.

I only noticed that I had company when something tapped my shoulder.

I jumped up in surprise, and partly fear. I had the TV remote in my hand and as I jumped up to my feet and spun around, I launched it towards the shadow behind me. Clearly, my guest had been expecting it and caught it even though it had gone wide.

"Same awful reflexes as I remember, Bella?"

I froze. It was him.

"E . . . Eh . . . ."

"Yeah, Bella. It's me. Edward."

Oh. My. God.

"I . . . I'm . . . so . . . sorry Edward" I said sympathetically.

"It's fine, well not fine, but alright Bella. I . . . I should have expected that you would move on. Besides that was the whole point of me leaving in the first place."

I broke away from my inability to move, and looked at him shocked.

"That's why you left? Of course! I should know since Alice used me to try to save you. So, why did you believe her, she told me that without me you wouldn't believe her."

I must have looked as angry as I suddenly felt because his eyes went wide and I saw the sides of his mouth turn down.

"I saw you in her head, but in nobody else's and that meant that she hadn't planned anything between them, so I presumed that she must be telling, or thinking, the truth. When I heard what you said to her, I finally realised that however much I love . . . loved you, you were better off with Jacob. And as much as it pains me to say, I made the right choice. I'm just here to tell you that I'm never going to bother you again. I couldn't hurt you like that. I want you to live a long and happy life with Jacob." He stuttered as he mentioned me and Jacob living happily ever after.

I opened my mouth to say something, and before I could do anything, he leant down and kissed me. It was so short that I didn't even think about ending it. It was, however, filled with passion and . . . love.

Did he still love me?

No, of course not. Otherwise he wouldn't leave me, he would fight for me. Fight against Jacob? No, he couldn't. Surely, they wouldn't come to that conclusion if they did disagree. But I knew how much Jacob despised Edward for breaking my heart. My heart. The one which was now once again being torn apart.

Wait. I love Jacob! Just a moment ago I was furious at Edward for coming back, and now I'm reconsidering a future with him? No, that's not right, unless . . . Jasper was here.

"Jasper? Are you there?"

"What? " Edward asked, clearly surprised by my words.

"I said is Jasper with you?"

He looked at me, surprised, closed his eyes, and then seemed to zone out. As soon as he reopened them, he stood up and stomped towards the door.

"Edward? What are you doing?"

He ignored me.

He swung the door open and there stood Jasper.

He looked surprised that the door had suddenly been opened, revealing him eavesdropping.

"What are you doing here, Jasper?" Edward asked.

"Look, I couldn't do it to Alice." What?

"What?" Edward repeated my thoughts.

"She was devastated when you left, and even more when Bella refused to help. I couldn't let that happen to her again."

I blushed deeply when my name was mentioned in the conversation.

"What do you mean?"

"I know that if Bella had rejected you, you would have gone back to the Volturi. So, I stood here and made sure that she felt lust rather than anger towards you, which she was originally."

"Jasper!" I shouted.

He looked scared, which was surprising considering that fact that I couldn't physically do anything to hurt him.

"That's why I suddenly started rethinking my future with Edward!"

"Edward's eyes shot up and I could see the sides of his mouth turning into a cruel smile.

"Jasper, do it again."

"What?" both Jasper and I yelled at the same time.

"I can't live without her; just make her love me again!"

"NO!" I shouted.

"Leave me alone, Edward!"

He leant towards me and before I even thought about it, I threw my hand at his cheek.

I heard the loud slap as my hand collided with his face. I knew that it wouldn't hurt him, but I hadn't realised that it would hurt me this much.

I jumped back and screamed.

"Ow! Damn, Edward!"

He looked heart-broken.

Good!

I looked at him, deep into his eyes.

"Go, Edward! Go! Live somewhere else, just leave me with my family! I don't want you in my life any more. Before this, I wanted you as a friend, but not now. I know that if you feel this way about me forever, it will make it impossible for us to remain close. Just go. Besides, you know what Jacob will say when he finds out."

Without allowing him to respond, I turned around and closed the door, shutting the two shocked vampires out of my house.

Without giving it another thought, I went to the kitchen and put some ice on my hand. I was going to do whatever I could to stop Jake from finding out. I knew what his reaction would be like, kind of like mine, but much worse.

I went to bed, not once thinking about the earlier encounter. I would forget about it.

I drifted into a light sleep, disturbed with the images of Victoria torturing my dad.

I was shocked awake by the sound of heavy footsteps coming up the stairs.

I would have been afraid, considering what I head dreamt of, but I wasn't. I just sat up and stared at the door.

I saw two huge shadows pass my door, heading towards Charlie's room. One was carrying something, but I was too tired to stand up and investigate further.

The other figure turned at my door and walked in.

"Bells? You're awake?"

I just hummed a response, although I knew that it was enough.

"Bella!"

Jacob ran towards me and wrapped me into a tight hug, filled with love. I returned the hug.

He pulled back and placed both of his hands on my cheeks. He was so gentle, but I felt like my cheeks were burning.

I leant towards him and kissed him.

Once again, he stopped after a few moments.

"Bella. Charlie's safe. He's in his room."

I couldn't stop myself, and I jumped back to him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Oh my God! Jacob! I love you so much, thank you!"

Jacob's POV

We sat on her bed, hugging and kissing for what felt like hours.

I knew that now was the time for me to tell her, we both knew how hard it had been being without each other in the last few days.

Finally, once we were both snuggling up together on her bed. I could hear the faint mumbling of some TV program on in the background, and could feel the thump of her heartbeat softly.

"Bella"

She just mumbled.

"I imprinted today."

She remained quiet.

"The moment I saw you, it happened. I missed you so much. And now I know that I will be with you forever. I want to ask you something, but not officially."

Her arm wrapped around me and I smiled.

"Marry me, Bella?"

I waited for a few moments and then sat up gently.

"Bella?" I said a bit louder than I had been speaking before.

She rolled into the space I had been lying in and then I realised that she was asleep. And had been throughout our whole conversation.

Although I felt upset inside, I smiled. I made me chuckle to think that I had just poured out my heart and soul to an empty room.

I gently stood up and tucked her in.

"Another time" I muttered. "Another time"

With that, I turned off the TV and pulled the door to.

"Night, my love."


	8. Safe

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters – they all belong to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Please tell me what you thought of the last chapter! I'm in the middle of exams and am worried that my writing is deteriorating. Reassure me that it isn't by reviewing please! **

Jacob's POV

The soft bark chips under my feet we comforting. I loved running through the woods, especially in wolf form, where nobody could bother me or interrupt me from my loving thoughts about Bella. Until, of course, I ran into another wolf. Nobody knew about me imprinting. Heck! I didn't even know until last night, and I hadn't phased since then.

I wanted to tell everybody. But I knew that I wasn't going to get the chance. The one person who, even in her human form, can't keep a secret. Leah was in the woods with me.

I briefly considered phasing in front of her so that she couldn't find out, but I decided not to humiliate myself. Especially when I knew that the first thing she would do would be to show everyone. So I carried on running, ignoring the footsteps that were getting closer and closer to me.

_Hey Jake! _

She thought in a sickly sweet voice.

Why's she so happy? I thought, without realising that she could hear me.

_Well, firstly . . . Oh. My. God. Jacob! You imprinted! Eeeww! On Bella? Seriously? _

I stopped running and faced her.

_Don't, Leah. We might not have the best relationship, but if you even think about insulting Bella, it will only get worse._

_Oooww! Is that a challenge I hear?_

Seriously, what was up with her? She seemed so happy, too happy!

_Just leave us alone, Leah_

_Ill do what I want to. You can't boss me around._

Now she was really getting on my nerves.

_Leah, Just. . .!_

I heard Seth's voice in my head.

_Bro? Is she annoying you, just ignore her. It's what I do!_

_Seth, it's easier said than done._

He chuckled quietly.

_Leah, mum wants you!_

_Okay_

And that was it. She just walked away. Huh?

At that moment, Seth appeared through the bushes.

_Hey. I heard that you imprinted. Congrats, dude! _

_Thanks_

_I always knew that you would. _

_Again, thanks. Anyway, I'm gonna go check on Charlie, he's going to take some time to recover._

_Sure, see you later!_

_Yeah_

And I turned around and ran back towards Bella's.

When I got there, I ran behind the house, phased, and pulled on a pair of shorts that I keep tied around my leg.

I stepped up to the front door and walked right in. It didn't seem to bother them and it made me feel more at home – so why not?

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a can of coke that was in the fridge. Once I had opened it and taken a sip, I wandered upstairs and peeked into Bella's room. She was asleep, spread out across her bed. I smiled. I just loved watching her sleep, especially when she dreamt about me and said my name. Again, I smiled at the though of her having a dream about me.

I pulled the door to and walked across the hallway to Charlie's room. I imagined that he was still asleep. He was in a lot of pain yesterday so we had given him some pretty strong anaesthetics. He was out cold, but at least he wasn't in pain.

When I did reach his room, the door was already open and he wasn't in there. I scoped out the room briefly just to check that he hadn't fallen out of bed or something and I still couldn't find him.

I realised where he was when I heard violent retching from the bathroom.

'Oh no' I thought.

I jogged to the bathroom and there he was, crouching over the toilet. I walked over to him and patted his back. It probably didn't help but at least I was trying.

When he finally stopped and stood up to brush his teeth, I spoke to him.

"Are you alright, Charlie?"

"I think so, just a bit of a stomach ache. That's all"

"Are you sure? Nothing else?"

"The side of my chest is hurting. A lot! Like someone just punched me, but harder. It's been like this all night, so I couldn't really sleep.

I didn't want to think much more about it, and he seemed fine for the minute, so I let it go.

"You should go back to bed, get a few more hours. You look exhausted"

He nodded in response and stumbled over to is room and into his bed. I switched off the light and pulled the door to.

Within a matter of moments, I could hear snoring from behind me. I could also hear him constantly rolling over. He must have a sore chest from the journey

I walked back to Bella's room and saw that she had rolled over again, leaving half of the bed empty. I took my shirt off and climbed in, hugging her as I did. I sure could do with an hour or two.

Bella's POV

It was late morning, I could tell because the sun was almost at the top of the sky, and I was hot! Like, boiling! I knew what it was when I felt my boyfriend's arms wrapped around me. I gently pushed at them, trying to get up so that I could walk around. I started to push harder because his arms wouldn't release me. I smiled, remembering when this had happened before. Eventually, I gave up, knowing that I could never get him to budge.

I stretched out as much as his grasp would allow me.

Even having stretched out didn't help, so I went onto plan B.

He said that it was hard to physically hurt a werewolf? Good – this wouldn't do too much damage then. I pulled all of my weight back and pushed it into his side. I had most of the bed so I presumed he was near the edge. I repeated this a couple of times and on the third, I felt him release his grip on me slightly. I kept on pushing and he suddenly disappeared off the end of the bed.

I heard a loud _bang_ and a few curse words before his confused little heard popped up from under the bed. I couldn't help but laugh.

"What the hell just happened?"

"Morning to you too, sleepy head." I teased and leant forward to kiss his forehead.

He extended this by grabbing the back of my neck and pulling my lips to his. The kiss started gently and nice, but then he put his arms around my waist and pulled me oof the bed.

I landed with a quieter _bang_ than Jake had.

"Morning to you, too." He quickly kissed my cheek. "And now we're even" He added and smiled at me.

I burst out laughing.

So did he.

After a few minutes, we stopped and were sitting on pillows on the floor.

"So how's Charlie?" I asked, concerned.

"He's doing alright, although I think he might be sick."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"It's alright. He was sick earlier and said that his chest was hurting really badly."

"Oh. Should I go check on him?"

"No, he's trying to get some sleep."

"Okay. Tell me something, Jake. Where did you find him? Who with?"

My heart was pounding as I worried about what might have happened to him.

"He was alone, in a car park in Los Seattle. That's near where Victoria's scent ended. There was another scent. It was strange. Not vampire, but it did resemble one slightly. We found him and headed straight back. He was screaming but we gave him some painkillers to knock him out so that he wouldn't be in pain."

"Okay"

Everything went quiet for a few seconds. The silence was broken by a blood-curdling scream from Charlie's room. Jake was out of the door before I could get up. I wasn't too far behind him though.

When I reached Charlie's room, he was standing by the bed with his mobile out.

"Jake! What's going on?" I screamed about the sound of Charlie's pain.

"We have a problem" e answered. That's all he said. I was just about to say something further, but I heard him talking to someone in such a low voice that it only sounded like humming to me.

Eventually, he put the phone back in his pocket and picked up Charlie's screaming figure.

"Jake! Who did you call?"

"It was Sam. He said to take Charlie downstairs, and then call Carlisle."

I flinched at the name.

"Why?"

"There's something very bad happening, but we are not too sure what"

"How can I help?"

"Call Carlisle." He passed me his phone.

"Tell him to come over now. I will carry Charlie downstairs. If you see Sam or any of the other boys, let them in."

I walked downstairs in front of Jake and went outside so I could hear the phone.

I called Carlisle's number and he immediately picked up.

"Jacob? Is that you?"

"No, it's Bella. We need your help. Come over to my house now."  
"Bella, what's wrong?"

"It's Charlie. He's screaming and we don't know why. Jake says that something bad is happening but they don't know what. Please."  
"Okay, I'm on my way."  
By the time I had hung up and put the phone in my pocket, Carlisle and Alice were in front of me.

Wow.

"Come in. In the living room."

They rushed passed me and Carlisle went over to Charlie.

He listened to his pulse and put some other equipment over him. I had no idea what he was doing, but I couldn't stand to see Charlie in this much pain.

"Well? Do you know what's wrong?"

Carlisle stood up with a panicked look on his face. I had never seen Carlisle worried about something.

"Yes" he stuttered.

"What is it?" Jake asked.

"Something has bitten him. Someone."

I stood with my eyes wide open, horrified.

"A vampire, well . . . half – vampire."

"No!" Jake shouted.

"He's in transition. In about twenty four hours he will be a vampire."


End file.
